Ohio State hockey player Kamil Sadlocha has been sent home “and will not practice or compete at this time,” athletic director Gene Smith said Tuesday. The suspension comes after Michigan State’s Jagger Joshua said an Ohio State player called him “a racial slur multiple times” in a game earlier this month.
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“One of the officials heard the slur and gave the player a game misconduct penalty,” Joshua, who is Black, said Tuesday in a statement on social media. “There was an investigation by the Big Ten in the days after the incident, but no further public action has been taken by the Big Ten conference or Ohio State.”
Sadlocha was issued a game misconduct in the contest.
Acts of racism do not belong in hockey.. pic.twitter.com/nm9AnIjSgV
— Jagger Joshua (@jaggerjoshua8) November 21, 2022
Later Tuesday, Smith issued his statement on the suspension.
“I want to offer my sincere and heartfelt apology to Jagger Joshua. On behalf of Ohio State, I am so sorry,” he wrote. “No student or student athlete should experience hatred or racism, and everyone should feel welcome. I have spoken with Michigan State athletic director Alan Haller, and I’m thankful Jagger is getting the support he needs.”
Shortly after Joshua’s statement, the Michigan State athletics department and hockey coach Adam Nightingale also issued a joint statement, expressing their support for Joshua.
“It is important to me that all student athletes feel comfortable and supported in our locker room and in our program,” Nightingale said. “I am proud to have Jagger Joshua on our team.”
Joshua said the inaction from the Big Ten and Ohio State following the game left him “feeling confused and pessimistic about the movement of diversity within hockey culture.
“The ignorance of racism does not belong in our game, and I feel that I need to make people aware that this incident occurred, because without acknowledgment, the problem gets worse.”
(Photo: Scott W. Grau / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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